Faculty Info

If you are using copyrighted material, you must obtain the required permission from the GMU Copyright Coordinator at the Fairfax Campus, 703-993-2544, or, extension 32544/32562/33158. It takes four to six weeks for the Copyright Coordinator to receive permission. Be mindful that their office serves the entire George Mason University community. The Copy Center cannot run such material until we receive written permission.
Early submission of Student Course Material ensures timely completion. While we specialize in a fast turn-around, this is not always within our control. Good quality originals and simple requests are best anytime, and especially for time sensitive work. Labor intensive jobs requiring special binding, cutting and pasting, inserts, hand collating, etc., take longer to complete, and contribute to the cost of the package. Other production factors are equipment, staffing, and meeting other customers needs. You should allow at least 72 hours for completing labor intensive jobs. Simple small to large requests with good quality originals result in fast, often within minutes, turn-around.
The requirement and cost of course books and other material, difference between "deep" and "required" reading, exams related reading, and the general quality of the package originals (readable vs. unreadable, pages cut off, faded print, pages deliberately omitted and not identified, etc.), all impact sales. Unless students believe this material is necessary for exams or assignments, many will not buy it. We also do optional, reserve and run-on-request material.

   a. It is imperative that faculty advise us if they are also making their course material available on-line, and/or on library reserve. We need this information to limit the copies we make.

     b. We often hear from students that a professor, after having material printed, later made its purchase optional. In other instances, after making material available, and much time and effort by us to produce a quality product, some faculty told students they didn't really need the material.

     c. We encourage faculty members to allow us to copy and sell non-copyrighted material placed on Reserve or online.    By running and prepackaging this material, it results in time saved for the student, a better product, a possible cost saving, and a better organized workload for the copy center.

     d. Voluminous packages usually do not sell well, especially if course text books are also required. This often results in considerable waste of time, effort, and material. Past examples of this: one package had 1,781 pages. It sold for $108.65; 32 copies were requested, 6 copies were printed, only 2 sold. Another had 1,427 pages, selling for $135.50; 10 copies were requested, 5 were printed, 3 copies sold. We learned from experience to run fewer copies each time.
We normally print 30 to 50 percent of the stated class total if more than 15, depending on class size, document size, and cost. For classes with 15 or fewer students, we usually run 100% of the stated class total. If the material is placed online or library reserve, we run minimal sets or run on request.
We earnestly solicit your cooperation and understanding. Attached are tips for preparing course material. The Copy Center is here to serve the needs of all its customers. We strive to provide quick, efficient and top quality service to everyone. We need your help to continue to do so.

TIPS FOR PREPARING MATERIAL FOR PRINTING

Submit clean, quality originals, if possible. Copies of originals with heavy, dark borders, should be cut off, allowing for cleaner copy. If you cut the borders off, or have odd sized pages mixed with regular sized paper, tape the document down completely on the entire left side to a plain sheet of letter sized paper.

Do not use masking or plastic tape on the pages. Remove all staples and paper clips. Such costs for labor intensive tasks are passed on to the customer. The copier counts blank pages as copies. This applies to all print jobs, including course material.

When copying books, enlarge or reduce your copy to fill the page. Or, if the sight glass on the copier you're using is not already framed, use blank sheets of paper to form a frame. Press on the spine of the book while copying. This will ensure cleaner copy and minimize the dark line separating pages.

Allow ½" to 1" left margin when preparing documents for copying. This allows for binding (only spiral bind or shrink wrap at Arlington) or 3-hole punch. Other type binding is available at the G.W. Johnson Copy Center at Fairfax campus - expect a 3 to 5-day delay by mail. Bottom Line -the simpler the package, the cheaper the cost.

Trim ragged or frayed edges before turning documents in for printing. This will allow faster completion of your job. Besides copying costs, we charge $1.50 per page if we have to trim your originals, and 20 cents per page for a make-ready (on the glass) copy; books, magazines, brochures, etc. are also 20 cents per page. Most books can be copied by reducing two book pages (87%) to one side of an 8 ½ x 11" sheet of paper.
Do not submit illegible or extremely light copy. Often, it does not print well. If you provide us the original, we can make a readable copy.
If you place material on reserve in the Library, it should be the cleanest possible copy, unstapled. The copy center should be provided with a copy of reserve material along with class size. If the material is copyrighted, and is on reserve for "Fair Use" without copyright clearance, we cannot run it in bulk or sell it as course material.
The Copy Center will be happy to do all of the above labor tasks for you. Costs can be billed to your account or be included in the price of the packet.
If you have questions or need assistance, please call the Copy Center at 38141, or stop by room 134 inside the GMU Law Library (turn right as you enter the library) in Hazel Hall. During the semester, our hours are 8:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (10:30 p.m. for sales), Monday through Thursday; 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Friday; 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, and closed Sunday.